The Cape:Dragon's Breath
by Evil Racoon
Summary: Vince Faraday faces his toughest challenge yet-the Dragon! Along the way he'll meet dangerous mercenaries,shadow governments and all in the hopes of one day reuniting with his family.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-Dragon's Breath

China Town, Palm City, June 28th

Lee Zhu Hon marched into the Emerald Dragon, the restaurant owned by him. On the surface a normal, upscale Chinese Restaurant but beneath the façade, a front for his operations. Lee passed several happy smiling couples and nodded. He emerged into the kitchen, a sparkling example of good dining. Lee's father, who gave him the Emerald Dragon the day he died, had always told him that just because it was a front did not mean it was not a business. Lee passed through as waiters and cooks stood rigidly as he passed before resuming work when he entered his private office via a red door marked private. In the spacious office were two men. One, his lieutenant and best friend Francis "Dog" O'Reilly and a large man in a red cloak who was making a name for himself within the hired muscle world. The Lich a psychotic terrorist who had attempted to bomb the city during a parade.

"What is this job you told me about Francis, I didn't break out of Owl Island for nothing" the Lich said in his deep, raspy voice.

"Lee, I'm hearing that you've got something big?" Francis said with a grin on his face revealing the three gold teeth he had.

"Yes, a former associate of mine is moving a stash of counterfeit bills through West Beach Harbor" Lee said sitting down. "You bring me that money and we'll split it three ways". The Lich seemed to be thinking it over, as he was quiet for a moment. He slowly nodded. Dog smiled and picked up a rifle from on top of a desk. The Lich glided out after Dog out of a back door.

* * *

><p>Dog slammed another clip into the rifle and turned and fired. The rival gangsters, Taiwanese if he guessed it fired back. As the gunfire died down a shot sounded from a window in the right corner of the warehouse. Dog ducked down. Did the Lich get his hands on a sniper rifle? Francis couldn't begin to understand that freak. He turned around the corner again and popped off two rounds at a nearby smuggler and kicked down the door to the warehouse the money was supposed to be in. Instead the warehouse was empty, no money in site. Francis cursed and was about to leave before he caught a shiny metal box sitting on a table at the far side of the room. Francis closed the door and moved to the box. The lock wasn't your average dollar store lock. Francis considered taking the box and dealing with it later but soon decided against it. He stood back and fired three rounds at the lock. The first bounced off to the right, the second struck the side of it and the third delivered the killing blow. Francis opened the box. Inside was a gilded revolver stuck in the black foam next to six perfectly silver bullets.<p>

"Amazing isn't it?" a voice said. Dog turned and saw a kid wearing dark blue pants and a flak vest.

"What'd you want kid?" Dog exclaimed.

"I'm here to get paid, you?" the kid replied lifting up an AK.

"About the same" Dog shrugged. "What is it?"

"It's _the_ silver bullet" the kid replied pulling the trigger. Dog crumpled to the ground with a final groan and the kid tossed his AK to the floor. He threw his foot over the railing and dangled over the side for a few moments before dropping to the ground with a thud. He gathered up the AK and the metal case. As he walked out he dialed a number on the prepaid cell phone.

"It's me" he said. "I've got it, have you got my money".

"We'll have your money when you bring us our gun" the voice said. The kid ripped the batteries out of the phone and dropped it on the ground. Unaware of the figure following him. When the kid was a safe distance away the Lich pulled the phone off of the ground. He fished the SIM card out of the phone and smile beneath his cloak. This was better than money.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-Legends

Trolley Park, Palm City, June 29th

Vince Faraday awoke to someone rattling on his door. He climbed groggily down to the door. Vince opened the door and a streak of brown hair whizzed past him.

"So last night" Orwell said as if entering in the middle of the sentence. "I was monitoring the ARK channels and found reports of a gunfight at the docks. I hack into the security cams and find this". She lay her laptop down and a video popped up.

"It's just a gunfight, I was a cop that's not uncommon" Vince said rubbing his eyes. "Especially in this city".

"Until I saw this" Orwell said. A kid, a few years older than his son Tripp was walking through the warehouse complex, rifle in hand killing the smugglers. Orwell flipped to another camera view and saw a man with a rifle heading for the same warehouse as the kid. Orwell changed the screen to show both. The kid and the man both disappeared into the same warehouse.

"Hey wait a second" Vince said pointing to the screen. "I've seen that guy, yeah that's Francis O'Reilly. He's been suspected to be one of the Lee Zhu Hon's enforcers for years now but we never had any concrete evidence". The screens changed to show the kid emerge from the warehouse with a metal case.

"Where's O'Reilly?" Vince said confused.

"That's what I'm wondering" Orwell said. "So I got in contact with a friend in that area that does a lot of freelance work for the local gangsters. He checked it out and said he saw the Lich leaving the scene. The words stung her tongue, the name of her former kidnapper and forced husband.

"The Lich?" Vince exclaimed. He nearly brainwashed the entire city with a hallucinogen, they were dealing with a terrorist.

"But I don't think he's the one behind all of this" Orwell said. "I'm going to investigate this further".

"No you don't have to do that" Vince said putting his hand on her arm. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. "I know how you feel about the Lich, I know it was traumatic for you". She was silent.

"I'm fine" she said still looking at their two hands.

"I'll look into it" Vince said.

"I have contacts, I can get more answers than you" Orwell pressed.

"But I'm used to these kind of people" Vince said. "And the Cape can get more answers than Vince Faraday".

* * *

><p>The kid, otherwise known as the infamous assassin for hire, Living Legend aka Adrian Sinner exited the shower in his expensive penthouse apartment in Olympus Park, one of Palm City's more opulent districts. The house was well furnished with modern appliances. The Channel Eight News blared on about continued gang warfare. Adrian's personnel cell phone rang. Something that rarely happened seeing as how the phone was under the name of a kid who died in 1957.<p>

"I saw your handy work on the security feed" Orwell's voice said. Adrian smiled.

"Sis, it's good to hear your voice" Adrian said. "I trusted my little information on your friend The Lich helped".

"I'm not your sister" she spat. "And yes it did, I passed it off to my friend".

"You know maybe I should call him my brother in law instead of the Lich?" Adrian pressed with a sick smile on his face.

"Shut up".

"Just playing with you O, so how's your quest to bring justice to Palm City?" Adrian said flopping down on his couch. "When does your friend want to meet me?"

"Stop it Adrian" she said raising her voice. "What was in that box?"

"That's not of your concern" Adrian said turning off the television. "That's between me and my employers".

"I know you Adrian, you looked inside it" Orwell pressed. "Tell me what was in there". Adrian was quiet for a moment.

"Hey how's mom?" he said dryly. It was Orwell's turn to go silent. She looked about her room apprehensively like a scared child.

"Fine, you don't want to talk about what was in there" Orwell said angrily. "Then don't, but sooner or later my friend is going to track this to you".

"Just know this O" he said. "I wasn't working for Lee Zhu". With that Adrian hung up the phone. Adrian went to his kitchen where the briefcase full of a good two thousand untraceable hundred dollar bills. Adrian picked up the briefcase and brought it over to a grandfather clock, a little out of place within his penthouse. He turned the hands to 10:47 and the grandfather clock opened outward a little to Adrian's wall safe. He stuck the briefcase into the safe and closed the clock.

* * *

><p>Lee Zhu Hon leaned back in his padded chair and swallowed two white aspirin tablets. He rubbed his temples and turned back to the hooded figure standing before him.<p>

"So you're saying that you fought your way through a horde of smugglers and all you bring back is this card?" Lee yelled.

"You forget that Francis is dead" the Lich said. "Don't you care about that?"

"A necessary loss" Lee murmured thinking back to their time in Owl Island.

"The man who killed Dog, he dialed a number after exiting the warehouse with a metal case" the Lich said. "We might be able to learn of who he was working for".

"What if he was freelance?" Lich growled.

"I've been in the business long enough to know a mercenary's prospect" Lee said taking a sip of ginger ale. "This was practically a set up from the start".

Vince and Orwell sat hunched over at a diner in Calvert Park.

"I have something to tell you" Orwell said pulling a piece of paper out of her blouse. "My informant, he wasn't freelance muscle. He's my….my brother".

"What!" Vince said spitting out his cola.

"Not really, it's a long story" Orwell said looking away.

"Is there a short version?" Vince asked.

"Not really".

"So how does your possible brother know about this?" Vince asked.

"He was the kid in the video" Orwell said after a waitress brought their check over.

"What!" Vince exclaimed. "When were you planning on telling me this?"

"He's one of the top hired muscles in the city" Orwell said feeling more ashamed of herself and her past.

"His name?"

"Well his business name is Living Legend" Orwell said leaning back and pulling a wad of cash from her jeans. Vince nodded slowly.

"You've heard of him?" Orwell asked.

"Four months ago I was tacked on to the Palm City PD Organized Crime Unit" Vince said staring intently at the table. "We raided a penthouse in Paris Beach and found everyone inside dead. We learned later that it was a meeting of some of the top drug lords on the American West Coast. We found a dying man who had written the words _Living Legend _across the wall but he died before we could get anything out of him".

"That sounds like his work" Orwell said.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-Group 451

Vince and Orwell sat at a table in the far corner of the Palm City Municipal Library. Orwell was rooting through several books and Vince was pretending to be buried in a Tom Clancy novel. In truth he was watching his son Tripp, a few rows away doing his homework. He remembered when he used to help him. A man with short cut dark hair and glasses sat down at the table and Tripp smiled. Vince's heart broke.

"Aha!" Orwell exclaimed. Someone at the far side of the room shushed her. "I knew I'd find it". Orwell lay a thick book down in front of Vince. It was titled _The Nazi Occult: Subversion, Conspiracy and Cover-Ups_.

"Sounds just like your kind of book" Vince joked.

"Look at this" she pointed to a list of known international agencies with occult agendas. One of the groups on the list was titled Group 451, then a dash to a small description. It read.

_Though little is known about Group 451, the bits of information known is that it has its roots in Nazi Germany. Operatives captured by the Allies stated that it had ties to global agencies all around the world including the Illuminati and Knights Templar. The Group was rumored to have emigrated from Germany to South America after the War. Many believe that its core members assimilated into the United States in the late 20__th__ Century._

"So what does that mean?" Vince said. Orwell silently flipped to another page. The page was titled _Weapons of the Conspiracy_. She stabbed her thumb at a row of six perfectly silver bullets.

"According to legend, there is a magic bullet" Orwell said. "According to the legend it was forged by Illuminati mystics to hold all of their secrets. Not only is it powerful but each bullet casing also has coding burnt into it. It says here that it was made to hold all of their secrets in case of their organization being discovered by the public. It also made it possible for them to erase the evidence of their global involvement, what gets rid of something better than a gun. Kill your enemies and hide your secrets". Orwell stood back with a victorious look. Vince moved his hands as if to tell her to continue.

"I think this is what my brother was after, or at least his employers" Orwell said.

"Why's that?"

"Because he's always had a penchant for conspiracy theories" Orwell said chuckling at an inside joke.

"Come on" Vince said with a smile. "You don't honestly believe in all of this Illuminati malarkey do you?"

"Vince, ask yourself" Orwell said placing both hands on his shoulders, getting closer and looking straight into his eyes. "Three months ago would you have believed any of this could happen?" Vince sighed.

"Well I guess you got me beat" Vince said. "Where do we start?"

"That's easy" Orwell said. "Focus on the Lich first, he was at that gunfight. He might have seen something". Vince nodded and exited the library with Orwell following him. Vince waited at his hide out until dark when he ditched his civilian clothes and downed the mask and cape. He dodged several ARK Patrols before finally getting to the warehouse district. Following Orwell's instructions via the wireless headset. He found the warehouse in the video, easy considering it was the only one with bullet holes in it. Vince ducked under ARK police tape and entered the warehouse. A body was sitting under a white sheet in the middle of the warehouse. He drew it back and covered his nose. The body was fresh, that was good. Vince knew enough about crime scenes to know that no cop would search the victim's pockets until they moved it. ARK or no ARK. He reached into the pockets of Francis O'Reilly and found his wallet.

"I was right" Vince said into the wireless headset. "It was Francis O'Reilly".

"Duh" Orwell shot back. The hairs on the back of Vince's neck stood up. He turned around as a punch hit him square in the jaw.

"Mister Cape" voice of Conrad Chandler aka the Lich growled. "So good to see you after my brief stint in Owl Island". Vince stood up and delivered a kick that got the Lich caught up in his long cloak. Vince pulled a small taser from his belt and pulled the trigger. The taser penetrated his long robe and finally found ground underneath it. Conrad writhed wildly before holding up his hands.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked. Vince holstered his taser.

"The metal box" Vince barked grabbing the Lich and holding him against a crate. "What was it?"

"I don't know" the Lich said catching his breath. "But whatever it was, Lee Zhu was fine with letting his friend die over it".

"So Lee Zhu is behind this" Vince exclaimed. "Did he want the box?"

"No, we were told that was a stash of counterfeit bills being moved through here" Chandler said. "I recovered the killer's phone card".

"Where's the card now?" Vince asked throwing the Lich against the wall. Conrad screamed.

"I gave it to Lee Zhu" the Lich whispered, coughing some blood. Vince approached and fired the taser. The Lich screamed and finally fell still. Vince turned and left the warehouse.

"Did you get that?" he said into the mic.

"Got all of it" Orwell replied.

* * *

><p>Outside of the Emerald Dragon, Vince scaled the façade of the grey building with red trimmings. He moved across the roof until he got to a fire escape. Vince climbed down it until he got to a small side window. The window appeared to look into a marble bathroom. Vince tucked the cape around his body and opened the window. He placed his hands on the windowsill and kicked his feet through it.<p>

"Hello?" a deep voice said from one of the stalls. Vince held his breath and waited behind a large, fake potted plant. A few seconds later the man in the stall emerged looking around. Vince wasted no time after realizing who he was. He dived from the plant and grabbed the shirt of the man known as Lee Zhu Hon.

"What's going on!" Lee screamed. Vince pulled a bandana from his belt and stuffed it into Lee's mouth.

"The card, where's the SIM card?" Vince hissed. He pulled the bandana out of Lee's mouth.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Lee said spitting on Vince's face.

"Your friend the Lich talked, he had no qualms about giving up all your secrets" Vince said pushing the man against the wall forcibly.

"It's in my office" he whispered. "But they'll kill you before you even get close". Vince stood up and looked around. On the far wall by a coat rack sat a trench coat. Vince grabbed the coat, and put it over his body.

"What're you doing?" Orwell asked over his earpiece.

"You're going to walk me in there" Vince said addressing both Lee and Orwell. "As the Lich". Orwell was shocked. Lee cleaned himself up and they both walked out, towards the office. They passed two men holding Uzi's as Lee nodded to them. They parted as Vince, disguised as the Lich neared. Lee closed the door behind them. Vince dropped the trench coat and Lee fished into a drawer pulling out a small baggy. Inside was a small blue SIM card. Vince picked up the card and dropped it into one of the pockets on his belt. A click appeared and Lee was holding a pistol.

"You'll never get out of here alive" Lee barked. Vince grabbed a hand full of smoke pellets. He drew the cape around and threw the pellets down. As the smoke passed Vince had disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay so up to Chapter 4 to those of you who've reviewed my work.I'd like to clear something i initially wrote these i skipped around from different plot points and characters like most TV shows.I realize you all might not have gotten that as FanficNet just,sort bunches it all again!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4-Silver Bullet<p>

Vince and Orwell sat in Vince's safe house. Orwell was busy hacking the SIM card.

"So what's on it?" Vince asked.

"Just one call" Orwell said keeping her eyes on the screen. "It's to a bar pay phone in Palm Bank County". Vince knew the suburb of Palm City. It was mostly farms and trailer parks.

"So what does this mean, road trip to Palm Bank?" Vince asked.

"Let's find that pay phone," Orwell said. She left with her laptop as Vince packed a change of clothes and his cape. Orwell reappeared with a duffel bag and a grey Hybrid. Vince piled into the back.

* * *

><p>Adrian Sinner picked up his phone. He dialed his employers back up number. The same man that had first contacted him picked up.<p>

"What?"

"There's someone tracking you-tracking me" Adrian said looking out over the city.

"Fed's?" the man shot.

"More like a nosy hacker"

"Who is it?" the man asked.

"An old friend" Adrian murmured.

"Sorry?"

"Just someone I knew" Adrian said "Someone from my past".

"We'll get rid of them," the man stated.

"No!" Adrian exclaimed, "Only if she's a threat to your operations".

"Very well" the man said. "But I think you'll understand that this will terminate any future contracts".

"I'm aware" Adrian said hanging up. He dialed his sister's number and got her answering machine.

"Sis it's me" Adrian said desperately. "You're not going to like where this leads. I'm asking you to stop rooting deeper for your own safety".

* * *

><p>They pulled onto the main street Palm Bank. An example of <em>Main Street America<em>, if ever Vince saw one. They stopped in front of an old fashioned diner. Vince stayed in the car as Orwell went inside to get information. She stood at the counter until a stout red haired woman approached her.

"What can I get you honey" she said over the din of the diner.

"Uh, I'm looking for Patrick's Bar" Orwell said looking at the scrap of paper of the location of the pay phone.

"Are you yanking my chain" the woman a little confused. "Honey, that old place hasn't been open since the 60's". Orwell's heart sank. Orwell returned to the car.

"Okay, apparently the bar hasn't been open for a while".

"Classic, let's check the place out anyway" Vince said. Orwell rolled her eyes and started the car.

"What?" Vince protested.

"Vince you can't apply all of your police knowledge to these situations" Orwell said.

"True" Vince said. They worked their way through the backwoods of the town until they came upon a decrepit strip mall. They found a dusty sign that said _Patrick's Pub_. "But this is something I learned as The Cape". He kicked open the barred door and ducked in. The bar appeared to have been unused for some time, most of the stools were sitting on the bar and the tables were covered in a fine layer of dust. At the far end of the room sat a pay phone. Clean and apparently well maintained in comparison to the rest of the room. Orwell and Vince stood a few feet away from it.

"So what is this?" Vince said holding up his hands angrily. "We came all this, did all of this to find a deserted bar". Orwell was about to respond when the pay phone rang. This was never good. Vince approached the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Vince Faraday?" a deep voice asked.

"Who wants to know?" Vince shot back. A thump brought Vince around. Orwell was crumpled on the floor. He rushed over to her when he felt a pin prick on the back of his neck. He felt the unmistakable feeling of a stun dart, military grade. Vince's eyes fogged and he slumped forward over her.


End file.
